


Working Title, Working Relationship, Working on a lot of things

by AirFireWaterEarth



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, And a dragon, Hinata ships it and doesn't even know why, Hinata's a fairy this time, It's definitely not anymore though..., Kei's an asshole, M/M, Not Beta Read, Tadashi is in denial, Was kind of supposed to be a crack?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 00:49:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11242824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AirFireWaterEarth/pseuds/AirFireWaterEarth
Summary: Tadashi is not anything close a princess, Kei doesn't want to marry anyone, and Shouyou disagrees all of that.In which Kei is tasked with saving the king's youngest child from a tower and everything goes wrong from there.





	Working Title, Working Relationship, Working on a lot of things

 

_ Tsukishima Kei (knight) _

 

When Kei was younger and more naive, he’d find entertainment in imagining knighthood. His brother always spoke so enthusiastically about it: fighting dragons, outsmarting trolls, sneaking past witches. Being a knight, Kei would add a few things: one, that the only reason any of these things were considered ‘feats’ was because you had morons instead of associates and two, that they rarely happened in the first place. Most days were filled with tolerating the idiots that were for some reason allowed the same job as he. 

 

Kei was using the meantime to read. Excuse him,  _ trying  _ to read. Kei glanced over at Tanaka and Noya's arm wrestling. They were obnoxious about it, grunting to an unnecessary extent and bantering using brainless insults. Kei had plenty of insults they could use but he wasn’t sure their brains would be able to register them. At least Kageyama wasn’t here; his brainless was of a special kind. 

 

“You’re never gonna save a princess with your scrawniness!” Tanaka announced through gritted teeth.

 

Noya looked utterly shocked and offended, thus ending the duel. Both their arms gave out and Tanaka apologized quickly.

 

“I’m sorry, bro. That was harsh.”

 

Noya nodded sadly. There was a beat of silence, but Kei knew better than to feel any relief. Noya quickly recovered because, at the end of the day, Tanaka had mentioned the ‘p’ word and that always lead to---

 

“Have you seen Princess Kiyoko lately? She’s been making more public appearances to the knights! Giving assignments and stuff. Apparently, she’s trying to make up for the fact that we never see her younger sibling at all. I wonder if the younger one’s pretty too! Imagine  _ two _ of them, bro!”

 

Kei was losing brain cells with every word each of the two loud mouths spoke. It wasn’t just that they were loud---not that it wasn’t majority of it. They were always loud about  _ princesses _ . Now, Kei had nothing against princesses in themselves; they rarely screwed up in their jobs and continued on royal lines. It was just that they  _ had _ to be swept off by a knight. And Kei happened to be a knight. They were all he ever heard about. Their captain was supposedly married to one, to which only made the sector Kei was in even more obnoxious about it. ‘Not just for fairytales’ in a way. 

 

It was absolutely pathetic. Kei had nothing against princess, true, but he  _ hated _ what they made him  _ obligate _ . Every time Kei did anything right, every time he did anything wrong, for some reason a  _ princess _ was part of its response. But no one seemed to realize that princesses were the exact opposite of what a knight needed. Princesses turned being a real knight to an actor in an elaborate play. A honeymoon instead of a job. Kei decided it was best to just lay under the radar. His childhood dreams were crushed long before knight training anyway. 

 

Noya and Tanaka continued to talk about Kiyoko and this possibly attractive sibling (that probably wasn’t if she didn’t show up in public at all, in Kei’s opinion). Asahi managed to distract them from the conversation by mentioning that one of the villagers had spotted a troll at some point.  They leaped up from the table to investigate as they usually did.

 

“Tsukishima, you joining us this time?” Noya asked. Tanaka didn’t look like he liked the idea. He didn’t usually. Well, Kei conveniently didn’t either and was about to voice it before Daichi beat him to the chase.

 

“Actually, I have a different task for Tsukishima.” Daichi turned to Kei, “Mind joining me in my office?”

Kei nodded lazily before getting up to follow the captain. He ignored Noya and Tanaka’s whines of jealousy. There really wasn’t a reason to whine either; this wasn’t likely to be any more exciting than their troll investigation. 

 

When in Daichi’s office, they sat. Just… sat. Kei began trying to read the captain’s expression in an attempt to even get a hint of why he was there. He just looked… constipated, really. The captain was overly stiff, yet tapping his foot and fingers in an out of synch rhythm. All of his facial features were in awkward positions, slightly scrunched. The captain's eyes darted around the room. Was Kei being fired? That would be inconvenient. 

 

Finally, Daichi let out a breath and began to speak.

 

“The king of Karasuno has… decided to put his youngest child in a tower in order arrange a marriage. We’d, ah,” another deep breath, “like you to try and rescue th-them.”

 

“What? No.”

 

It just slipped out of Kei’s mouth. He didn’t even think about it. Out of character for Kei; he usually didn’t say things before he thought about them, it was just… he obviously had to reject it. Somehow, Daichi looked completely prepared for that reply.

 

“Marriage is… optional. We were asked by Princess Kiyoko to send someone willing to rescue her sibling without, ah, prior expectations. We thought that you were probably the best person to do this,” Daichi explained.

 

_ Without prior expectations _ . If Kei was one thing, he supposed it was that. Still, his brand of ‘without expectations’ really wasn’t exactly what the eldest princess was looking for. His ‘without expectations’ included ‘not caring at all’. Princess Kiyoko was trying to give her probably-not-the-best-looking sister a chance and putting  _ Kei _ on  _ that _ job was probably the  _ worst _ choice. Still, the captain did say that the marriage part was optional so that left room for Kei to both do his job and get off scot free. Maybe he’d saddle the princess with Noya or Tanaka. At this point in time, they’d take anything, right?

 

“Ah, my… apologies.” Kei adjusted his glasses, “Is there more information I need to know?”

 

Daichi nodded, “Yes. There’s unsurprisingly a dragon. And it’s particularly nasty. To make it more difficult, you are  _ not _ to kill it.”

 

Kei scrunched up his nose but nodded. 

 

“That is all,” Daichi concluded, “You know the works, go to Asahi for directions and file a report when you’re finished. Your job starts tomorrow morning. You’re dismissed.”

 

Kei left the room, not feeling any different from when he walked in.

 

* * *

 

 

_ Yamaguchi Tadashi (prince- yeah, just prince… probably) _

 

“ _ SHOUYOU _ !” 

 

Oh, that fairy was going to get it! This was  _ not _ where Tadashi fell asleep last. No, when Tadashi last fell asleep he was in his room at the palace at  _ most  _ 20 feet from ground level. Not a tower at least  _ 200 _ feet from the ground. Tadashi stared out his one window in horror and waited for his fairy godmother to come and give a  _ good _ explanation.

 

Shouyou eventually did show up, looking sheepish.

 

“...yeah, Tadashi?” he fluttered his eyes in an attempt to look innocent. 

 

Tadashi put his hands on his hips and leaned towards Shouyou before gesturing around the room.

 

“What’s  _ this _ ?” 

 

“A room?”

 

Tadashi blinked, stood up straight, and took in a deep breath.

 

“ _ Why _ Shouyou?  _ Why _ am I in this room?”

 

Shouyou looked down at the floor nervously and began to ring his hands. If Tadashi had any hopes this being an actually understandable answer, they were dashed.

 

“You see, your dad kinda, um, thought that it would be better off if we,” Shouyou coughed, “married you to a knight.”

 

A beat of silence.

 

“ _ WHAT?”   _ Tadashi cried.

 

Shouyou frantically put his hands out to calm Tadashi.

 

“It’s just… it’s just, you can’t sword fight and---”

 

“I can learn!” Tadashi objected

 

“As I was saying you  _ can’t  _ sword fight,” Shouyou continued, “you either cry or at least get teary eyed whenever you get lessons on war strategy, you talk with the hunting dogs instead of hunting with them, and the king’s tired of taking in strange animals. Also, the animals talk to you … Now nothing’s  _ wrong  _ with all that but…”

 

Shouyou mutters the end of the sentence too quietly for Tadashi to hear. 

 

“What? There’s nothing wrong with all that but what?” Tadashi asked exasperatedly. 

 

Shouyou looked up.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with all that,  _ but  _ it’s not as  _ prince-like _ as it is  _ princess-like _ .” 

 

Tadashi huffed indignantly and crossed his arms. 

 

“I can’t believe this.”

 

Tadashi sat down on his bed and looked at the wall. Tadashi wasn’t stupid, he’d always known he wasn’t exactly what people considered Prince Charming. But that didn’t just automatically mean he was a princess! There was  _ a lot _ of logic missing from that. His sister was much better at the things that Shouyou had listed and that didn’t make her a prince. So why was it different for him?

 

Shouyou sat down on the opposite side of the bed. There was a pause before,

 

“I’m not saying that you’re a princess, but I am saying that maybe you need to realize that you’re wasting your time trying to be someone you’re not. Maybe true love’s something more for you!” 

 

Tadashi wished he was as open minded and optimistic as Shouyou. He really did. 

 

Tadashi sighed, “You always wanted me to become a-a manly prince or whatever. Why are you changing your mind?” 

 

Shouyou smiled at him brightly. “‘Cause I want you to be happy! And becoming a manly prince clearly isn’t going to be what makes you happy.”

 

Tadashi cocked an eyebrow. Shouyou was rarely this insightful. He was a very… surface kind of fairy. It still didn’t make what he was doing right. 

 

“Thanks, Shouyou. Really, but I’m not going to go through with this. It’s-it’s humiliating! The only prince of Karasuno being thrown in a tower like a princess and married off to the first knight that shows up? I’m leaving. I’ll go find Kiyoko. I’m sure she’ll help me.”

 

Tadashi went to get up and exit when Shouyou jumped up off the bed with a drive.

 

“Nu-uh!”

 

Shouyou pulled out his wand and began transforming into a different creature. One with wings, scales, horns, and steam coming out of its nose. 

 

“You’re not leaving until your true love comes to get you!” Dragon-Shouyou announced. 

 

Tadashi scoffed and threw himself onto the bed in defeat. This was  _ ridiculous _ .

 

* * *

 

 

_ Tsukishima Kei (knight) _

 

Kei didn’t particularly mind early mornings. They were quiet, and Kei always preferred quiet. In this case, however, it gave an odd atmosphere.The tower was slightly tall. It fell under the tall list, but there’s been larger, Kei’s sure. What would have looked somewhat ominous just looked old and tired, almost. Still, Kei wasn’t to judge a book by its cover. Princess Kiyoko had not only warned that defeating the dragon be tiring, but that Kei wasn’t allowed to kill it. What was that even supposed to imply? That this was a recycled dragon? Either way, Kei was to get in the tower (without expectations apparently) and out with a princess. It was simply his job. 

 

Kei entered cautiously, scanning the walls and ceiling. The tower was as grimy as it looked from the outside. Water dripped down some corners and vines grew out of minute cracks. Thankfully, it didn’t smell as terrible as Kei expected it to. Kei needed to be on his guard, and smells could be distracting. The early morning gave light through the windows, but it wasn’t enough to fill the expanse of the tower. If anything it created stark shadows, convenient for dragons to disguise themselves in.  

 

Kei flinched at the sound of footsteps. At first, he wondered if it was the princess, but the footsteps began thunder louder and louder ceasing its mouselike taps and creating the ones Kei could recognize as a dragon’s. Suspicious. Kei drew his sword.

 

The creature revealed itself. It wasn’t nearly as large as Kei expected it to be, but it was large enough. It’s scales were red---no, orange. Oddly windy horns protruded from its head, towards the back. The eyes were what disturbed Kei most. They weren’t red or a piercing blue like most dragons. They were a golden brown, warm and happy. 

 

Well, Kei had been told this wasn’t a normal dragon.

 

“This is it? I thought I’d be much more impressed,” he mused and prepared for an attack.

 

The dragon growled and lunged at Kei predictably. Kei found a ledge and leaped to the better vantage point. From there, he planned on finding a blind spot and sprinkle sleeping dust on the creature. However, the dragon was quick. It whipped its tail to knock Kei over. But after that, it didn’t make an attempt to attack. Kei was back on his feet fast enough to perhaps blame it on that, but he knew better. This was a game. Play for the dragon. Kei glanced at the eyes again. They were wilder now, but still that odd warmth and happiness. Kei pinched his lips but made the decision. He sheathed his sword and looked at the dragon eye to eye. The dragon made no attempt to further attack. 

 

“As I thought,” Kei pushed up his glasses, irked that the dragon’s smoke fogging them up, “you’re not going to kill me. I don’t want to waste my time playing games with you then. Either chose to kill me or let me pass.”

 

The dragon--- or whatever it was--- tilted its head in contemplation, then (somewhat reluctantly) made way for Kei. Kei walked past, watching the dragon out of the corner of his eye. A dragon was still a dragon, even it wasn’t a  _ true _ dragon. 

 

The climb up took far more energy than Kei would have liked. This was quite the exhausting job. And strange. Strange and exhausting. Nevertheless, Kei made it to the door. He refused to work himself up. Kei wasn’t the type of person to overthink things. Think them through, then execute. It was the simplest and most effective way to do it. So Kei opened the door. 

 

Kei heard the occupant before he saw them. They shrieked before a thud indicated that they’d fallen off their chair.  _ Graceful, _ Kei thought. Then Kei  _ saw _ the occupant. 

 

“You’re a guy,” Kei said bluntly.

 

The  _ prince _ , who had been getting up from the chair, slumped his shoulders in embarrassment and scratched his neck.

 

“That… is true.”

 

The prince wore clothes better fit for a commoner, but it didn’t seem to bother him in the least. He kept glancing at Kei, waiting for him to say something. Kei was making his own evaluation. Tanaka probably wouldn’t take him. Not only was the prince a, well, prince, but taller than him. Noya was likely used to such things, so he perhaps wouldn’t mind. But this was also unique enough for Chikara to be interested---

 

“Tea?” 

 

The prince’s voice snapped Kei from his thoughts.

 

“Ah, no thank you.” Kei replied, “But I do have a few things I’d like to discuss.”

 

The prince gulped and moved timidly to make himself tea. 

 

“Uh, y-yeah. Okay, I get that.” he stuttered shaking the cup he had. 

 

Kei sat down as the prince poured water from the kettle by the fire into his cup and added the tea bag. Once the prince sat down, he got to business. 

 

“I was tasked with taking you out from the tower, but no with marrying you. And I won’t,” the prince didn’t even look fazed by Kei’s words, “but I would like to mention there a few people that might marry you.”

 

The prince muttered, “Lucky me.”

 

Kei only raised an eyebrow in response.

 

“Yeah, that’s good, I guess,” the prince swirled the hot water in his cup with his tea bag, “I don’t really get a choice in anything anyway. What’s one more person choosing?”

 

Kei scowled. He was being generous. Not many knights would marry princes. They were the wrong gender for most and even with that pushed aside, these princes were the black sheep in the royal family, making the knights stick out like a sore thumb.

 

The prince’s features contorted with anger, “Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t choose to be here like I’m  _ sure _ you didn’t choose to  _ waste your time _ and save me! This isn’t easy to deal with, okay?”

 

“It’s my job to save you and it’s your job to be here and do as your father says.” Kei snapped. 

 

The prince’s hands were in tight fists and he looked on the verge of tears. No wonder he wasn’t given a choice; he wasn’t capable of controlling things such as war or even simple duels. 

 

“Shouyou!” The prince yelled. 

 

Kei blinked in confusion. He hadn’t seen anyone else on his climb up, and Kei had had  _ plenty _ of time for people watching. Then Kei heard distant rumbling sounds.  _ The dragon _ . Kei eyed the open door cautiously. The rumbling stopped and a boy with wild orange hair and a stature that could rival Noya’s microscopic one. However, the boy---Shouyou--- had  _ wings _ . Gods, this prince even had a fairy godmother. 

 

“What’s wrong Tadashi?” Shouyou queried, “Are you okay? Is he mean? He sounded mean when we were fighting.”

 

The prince, now named as Tadashi, nodded aggressively. “He’s an  _ asshole _ .”

 

Kei’s shoulders tensed. Wasn’t this a prince? Well, no. Kei had to stop trying to understand any of this. He’d go mad in the process. 

 

Kei instead defended himself, “I was tasked with rescuing the prince from the tower. I was merely explaining that I knew of a few people possibly offering marriage---”

 

“No, you said ‘might marry you’ like I’m a shirt at the market, ‘oh, I might but that’!” Tadashi refuted. 

 

Shouyou seemed to be caught up in something else, however.

 

“You’re just going to dump him to someone else? That’s not what’s supposed to happen! You’re supposed to save him  _ and _ marry him!”

 

Kei rolled his eyes, “That, as they said, optional. I chose against the option before I arrived here,” Kei glanced at Tadashi, “if it makes you feel better. I was merely trying to make things easier in that case.”

 

Tadashi was seething and Shouyou was horrified. This was going beautifully. Fine. Kei had time. 

 

Shouyou got a look that said he had an idea and that caused Kei to become mildly afraid. Shouyou didn’t seem like the type to have that great of ideas. He could tell from the fairy’s naturally loud demeanor and hyper-ness, things Kei saw in his own less-than-genius associates.

 

“That’s not what’s supposed to happen,” Shouyou announced again.

“You've mentioned,” Kei deadpanned. 

 

“So,” Shouyou continued, “Neither of you are leaving until you fall in love.”   
  


Kei’s eyes widened tenfold. Sorry,  _ what? _

 

“ _ SHOUYOU!  _ No. No way. That’s not how love works! You can’t just lock two strangers a room and expect them to fall in love. Can’t we just wait for another person to come? C’mon, think about this,” Tadashi begged. 

 

Shouyou showed no signs of giving in. It looked like Kei was going to have to solve this the hard way. Kei drew his sword.

 

“My apologies, but I don’t have that kind of time. Or energy.” Kei explained, “I’m going to ask once.”

 

Shouyou simply waved a wand and smirked. “Try!”

 

Kei stepped one step before his sword completely disappeared.

 

“Try later, ‘cause you’ve got some falling in love stuff to do!” Shouyou was out the door and locked it in a blink.

 

Kei’s face flushed with anger (and embarrassment, but this would  _ stay _ overlooked). Tadashi sighed.

 

“That was stupid.”

 

Kei whipped around and glared at him. Tadashi just shrugged and grabbed a second cup.

 

“Tea?”

**Author's Note:**

> My one-shots aren’t even as long as this one chapter. a . Oh well. A few things to remember about this: while gender stereotypes exist here, disdain for gays don’t. It’s just kind of accepted in this universe. Also, I wrote Kei and Tadashi to have very negative opinions to provide room for character growth, not because I genuinely think that.
> 
> So I guess I just like fairy godmothers? XD Well, um, show support and stuff I guess... This chapter was soooo long! For me anyway.


End file.
